In China, Honor of Kings once again dominated the gaming charts, but Cheetah’s selection of ad-funded games locked out four of the top five slots in the download ranking to challenge its dominance.

In a relatively quiet month for Europe, the biggest story was the arrival of seven new entries into the top 20 downloaded games. Meanwhile, an app based on a popular British reality show called Love Island was one of the most downloaded apps in Europe. Pokémon Go also had a good month, reentering the top grossing rankings in the U.S. and Europe.

America: HBO NOW Grows with Game of Thrones

The big story in the American app rankings was the growth of HBO NOW. While it couldn’t unseat Netflix or Pandora as one of the top two grossing apps in the territory, a surge of demand for the new season of Game of Thrones saw it climb into third place. Further down the standings, Tidal climbed four places after the release of Jay Z’s 4:44 album on the platform, benefitting from exclusivity to help it go toe-to-toe with other streaming rivals in the country.

The surprise story in the download charts was the growth of Sarahah. The messaging app, which allows people to receive anonymous messages that they can’t respond to, has become a viral hit, becoming the fourth most downloaded app in the country in July.

A previous viral hit returned to the top three in the game revenue ranking. Niantic’s Pokémon Go benefitted from the arrival of legendary Pokémon in the game’s raid systems, returning to the top 20 after briefly falling out.

In the game download ranking, Voodoo held onto the top and had another new game enter at #6. But the most interesting new entry was the Final Fantasy XV spin-off game at #7. Created by a spin-off from Machine Zone and based on the same 4X template as Game of War, we expect to see it challenge the top grossing games soon.

China: Cheetah dominate the download charts

Honor of Kings, once again, topped both the download and grossing charts in China’s games market. The biggest game in the mobile gaming world continues to assert a vice-like grip over the territory, powering it and Tencent to greater levels of success.

There were, however, some interesting movers in the rest of the gaming charts. NetEase’s Fantasy Westward Journey jumped one place to become the second biggest game in the territory. Meanwhile, Tencent’s Contra Return dropped out of the top 20 after entering last month. Another Japanese license made its way into the charts in its place, with Tencent’s game based on Naruto entering at #18.

Cheetah Mobile also had a remarkably strong month in terms of downloads. It locked out #2 to #5 in the ranking with its series of ad-funded mobile games, with each title jumping four to 16 spots in the course of a single month. While Honor of Kings remained on top, a concerted push by Cheetah could see gaming royalty dethroned in August.

In the app rankings, video was the big winner. QQTV became the top grossing app in China, Kwai jumping up to #4, and Youku gained five positions to reach #6. Youku’s growth was also notable in the download charts, as it soared 18 places to top the ranking.

派派－像偷菜一样偷红包 was the most notable entry at #3 in the app download charts. The new social networking app offers a variety of services including micro blogging, the opportunity to earn gold coins, and even the chance to own a virtual pet.

Europe: Pokemon Go Makes a Comeback

Both the game and app markets in Europe stood relatively still in July. In the game revenue ranking, the major shift at the top involved Clash of Clans and Clash Royale swapping first and second place. Lower down, new entries War Dragons and Last Empire offered gamers the chance to build dragon and zombie armies, respectively. Castle Clash also returned to the chart at #19 as it celebrated its four-year anniversary on the store.The game download charts saw some activity. Rider moved up three places and The Floor is Lava entered at #4, helping Ketchapp lock out three of the top five. In total, there were seven new entries into the top 20, but many were returning titles. Despicable Me: Minion Rush and Color Switch re-entered at #11 and #20, respectively, as players were coaxed back in by fresh updates.

Things were much quieter for apps. In the grossing ranking, only AdopteUnMec entered the top 10, climbing two places to#8, while the rest of the ranking remained static. The only other big gainer was language learning app Babbel, which gained six places for summer holidays. Love Island was the most notable new entry in any of the European charts. The app, based on a popular British reality TV show, managed to reach #20 in the download ranking, despite only being widely downloaded in Britain and Ireland. This shows how a strong viral hit in one country can still make waves in the charts, even if it is likely to be only in the short term.

Subscribe to our newsletter

Join over 15,000 professionals and stay up to date with our latest news & insights

Newzoo uses the information you provide to us to contact you about our relevant content, updates, and services. You can unsubscribe from these communications at any time. For more information, check out our Privacy Policy.